http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
13/04/2013 00:00:00
by Nkosana
Dlamini
MALAWI President Joyce Banda will officially open this
year’s Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo later this
month, a Cabinet
Minister has confirmed.
Industry and Commerce
Minister Welshman Ncube told NewZimbabwe.com that
Malawi’s first woman
president would visit Zimbabwe at the invitation of
President Robert
Mugabe.
“This year’s Trade Fair is being officially opened by Joyce
Banda, the
Malawian President. She is coming at our invitation and that of
the
President,” Ncube said.
Zimbabwe’s premier trade showcase runs
from 23 to 27 April 2013.
The trip would be Banda’s first official visit
to Zimbabwe since taking over
power after the death last year, of Bingu wa
Mutharika, who was a close ally
to President Mugabe.
Since assuming
power Banda has actively sought closer ties to with the West
to help mend
her country’s struggling economy.
In contrast, Mugabe accuses the West of
working to force him out of power
and relations remain icy since the
European Union and the United States
imposed sanctions, accusing his
government of electoral fraud and human
rights abuses.
But Ncube said
Mugabe would be happy to receive Banda despite their
different approaches to
dealing with the West.
“As a country, we are in good books with all our
neighbours and all member
countries in SADC,” he said.
http://www.bizday.co.zw/
Bulawayo, April 13, 2013 – With less than three weeks to
go before the 54th
edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, the
exhibition centre is a
hive of activity with preparations at an advanced
stage.
A statement to Bizday by the organisers, the Zimbabwe
International Trade
Fair (ZITF) company, noted that exhibitors had started
upgrading and
sprucing up their pavilions in time for the premier trade
showcase on April
23.
ZITF said more than 48 000 square metres of
exhibition space had been booked
to date which amounted to over 94% of
available exhibition space.
The ZITF 2013 International Business
Conference (IBC) running parallel to
the trade fair is set to be a major
highlight.
“It promises to be a fruitful platform that will contribute
positively to
the socio-economic transformation of the country,” noted the
statement.
The conference will be held on April 24 and Vice President
Joice Mujuru will
deliver a keynote address on ‘Zimbabwe on a new tidal wave
of socio-economic
transformation and sustainable development in the modern
era.’
Other presentations are expected from notable speakers such as the
Indian
Ambassador to Zimbabwe, J.K Triphathi, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai,
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and Minister of Industry
and Commerce
Welshman Ncube.
Also on the programme are World Bank
Senior Economist Piffareti, University
of Zimbabwe Economist, Rob Davies,
Group Five Business Development Official
G Heale, Tel*One Managing Director,
Chipo Mtasa; Chairman of the Zimbabwe
Investment Authority, Nigel Chanakira
and CBZ Group Chief Executive, Dr John
Mangudya.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 April 2013 00:00
Scores of
pupils who sat for Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations
last year
are yet to receive their results amid allegations of negligence
being
levelled against some schools.
A-Level results were released at the
beginning of the year while O-Level
results were released in February 2013
but it has since emerged that some
pupils are yet to get their
results.
Some candidates are reported to have got result slips that had
grades for
subjects that they did not sit for.
Government, through the
Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, is
now set to launch
investigations into the matter after the Zimbabwe Schools
Examination
Council distanced itself from the mix up.
Education Minister Senator
David Coltart urged the affected candidates to
take their cases to the
nearest education offices for assistance.
“This is a matter of urgency. They
should utilise those relevant offices in
their districts and give the
details of their specific problem so that we
can investigate and address
these matters,” he said.
Zimsec has since distanced it from the exam
mix-up with the examination’s
body’s director, Mr Essau Nhandara, accusing
some school headmasters of
negligence. Mr Nhandara said school authorities
are afforded enough time to
address discrepancies they would have noted when
students register to write
exams.
“Students register for specific
subjects by using a colour code. This
happens around March every year.
Students then receive an examination entry
form sometime in July. It is at
this stage that any discrepancies between
students’ registrations and what
is listed on the entry form can be
corrected,” he said.
Meanwhile, the
majority of the students who are yet to secure their results
are now in
limbo as they cannot proceed with their education. —The Sunday
Mail.
http://bulawayo24.com/
by Staff reporter
2013 April 13
09:55:16
ZANU-PF members in Mutare urban have called for the disciplining
of errant
members who are serving suspensions but are allegedly holding
clandestine
meetings.
Speaking during a no-holds barred meeting at
Sakubva Beithall on Sunday,
which was attended by Zanu-PF national secretary
for security, Dr Sydney
Sekeramayi, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, Central Committee
and provincial members,
attendees felt that there are some people who were
now above the party as
they were openly violating party procedures and
conditions of their
suspensions.
Former Mutare District Co-ordinating
Committee chairperson, Cecilia Gambe,
said the provincial leadership had
failed the party and called for the
appointment of an interim
committee.
"We are directionless in this province because of a leadership
crisis. Some
people think they are above the party and are getting away with
murder.
"We hear of suspended members holding meetings and we wonder
where we are
going as a party. Some were elected to warm their chairs and
they have
totally forgotten that they have a constituency to
serve.
"There is communication breakdown between the grassroots and those
in power.
The provincial leadership does not have people at heart and they
have
completely failed. It is better to have an interim leadership, which
can
rejuvenate the party because failure to do so spells doom.
"We
were embarrassed during the just-ended constitutional referendum when
our
leaders only came to the people with four days to go before the
referendum.
If they were lukewarm during the referendum, what can you expect
during the
forthcoming harmonised elections? When it comes to positions, we
look at
one's social standing and not his or her capabilities. Just because
I am
from McGrecors does not mean I am not a good leader. I can be better
than
those who think they are smarter. We live with the people and we know
what
they want, so please no imposition of leaders on us," said Gambe.
Her
sentiments were also echoed by Ward Seven representative who said the
provincial leadership lacked proper action plan.
"There is no action
plan on the part of the provincial executive.
Dishonesty, corruption,
big-headedness and selfishness are causing divisions
in the party. We should
have a leadership code of conduct and not the
free-for-all situation
prevailing. There are no meaningful projects
happening in the city, yet we
are a few kilometers from the Chiadzwa diamond
fields. We are hearing
stories of leaders looting resources at Chiadzwa, yet
the city is crying for
development. Party members are operating from rented
offices, yet we are
told that some people looted from diamond mines in the
name of the party,"
he said.
Susan Mushonga accused outsiders of destroying the party in
Manicaland.
"We are directionless because we do not believe in ourselves.
We have
allowed foreigners to dictate the pace for us, yet we have capable
people
among us who can take us to the Promised Land. Please sanity should
prevail
in Manicaland," she said.
Responding to what was presented to
them, Dr Sekeramayi, said it was time
for people to deliver and not to have
endless talk shows.
"Some of you are accusing us people from outside
Manicaland for causing
havoc in the party, but we are here to listen to your
concerns and chart the
way forward.
" We have heard your grievances
and we will take them to the relevant
offices for them to be addressed. We
understand that you are disgruntled
that things are not being done in the
correct manner and this should be
addressed urgently because the party needs
to be strong.
"Leaders are chosen by people and not vice-versa. I think
we all listened to
President Mugabe's speech during our Gweru conference
where he strongly
spoke against the imposition of candidates and that is the
same message we
are repeating today.
"So far, we only have one
candidate in President Mugabe. The commissariat
department is finalising
primary elections guidelines, but we should work
for the party's victory. We
should win the majority of the seats in
Manicaland," he said.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Saturday, 13 April 2013
00:06
Takunda Maodza Senior Reporter
ZANU-PF has dispatched a
three-man team led by its national chairman Cde
Simon Khaya-Moyo to resolve
challenges being faced by the party in
Manicaland.
This follows a
Politburo resolution on Thursday that investigations be
conducted in the
province to establish the cause of problems with the
intention of finding a
lasting solution.
The team also comprises national political
commissar Cde Webster Shamu and
Cde Kembo Mohadi, who is reportedly standing
in for Cde Sydney Sekeramayi.
Secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa
is also part of the team,
though he was said to be at the centre of the
probe.
Secretary for information and publicity Cde Rugare Gumbo confirmed
the
development in an interview with The Herald yesterday.
He defended
and explained the inclusion of Cde Mutasa, who some party
officials in the
province are accusing of causing factionalism.
“It is true that a team
was dispatched to Manicaland to carry out the
investigations. It is on the
ground right now doing what it was tasked to do
by the Politburo.
“These
are open investigations. Those who say things against him (Cde
Mutasa) must
be able to do so in his presence. We have resolved to do things
in a
democratic way and the truth has to be said.”
Cde Gumbo said the speed
with which the party launched a probe into the
events in Manicaland was
clear testimony that it wanted the speedy
resolution of the
challenges.
He said the team’s prompt visit was not necessitated by a
petition to
President Mugabe by a delegation from Manicaland which visited
the Zanu-PF
First Secretary and President recently.
“Even if the
petition had not been written, we were still going to send a
team to
Manicaland,” Cde Gumbo said.
It appears the party is not going to tolerate
factionalism reminiscent of
the situation that led to the dissolution of
District Co-ordinating
Committees in June last year. DCCs were dissolved
after Zanu-PF realised
that they were sowing division in the
party.
Powerful Zanu-PF members were allegedly manipulating DCCs, causing
unnecessary divisions and tension.
Manicaland was once again a problem
child when the DCCs were dissolved,
alongside Masvingo Province and
Bulawayo.
On Thursday, the Politburo restructured Bulawayo Province,
appointing Cde
Callistus Ndlovu as the new provincial chairman, taking over
from Cde
Killian Sibanda. Cde Sibanda now deputises Cde Ndlovu.
This
followed personality challenges in Bulawayo with some officials “not
happy
about certain people”.
While admitting that there were some challenges in the
party, Cde Gumbo on
Thursday said some challenges were normal in an
institution as big as
Zanu-PF.
“In any phenomenon there are
contradictions. We have, as a party, non
antagonistic contradictions, but
they are not that serious. We are as strong
as ever,” Cde Gumbo told
journalists on Thursday.
The party also postponed setting up rules and
regulations to govern the
conduct of primary elections to a later date.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Thabang
Mathebula
12.04.2013
BULAWAYO —
A Bulawayo pre-school matron who
was charged with one count of insulting
President Robert Mugabe was Thursday
taken off remand at her initial
appearance before city magistrate Takundwa
Mutetwa at the Tredgold
Magistrates Courts due to lack of
evidence.
Seventy-five year-old Stella Souter, who is a matron at
Queen Elizabeth
Nursery School, appeared before Mr. Mutetwa facing charges
of contravening
Section 33 (2) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform
Act and uttering
words likely to cause contempt, hatred or ridicule towards
the president.
Court records show that she was arrested after a
disgruntled employee at the
pre-school, Tafadzwa Satimburwa, reported to the
police that she had abused
the president's name on a number of occasions
each time he demanded his
salary between October last year and January this
year.
The police arrested and charged her for allegedly
undermining or insulting
the president following Satimburwa’s
report.
Satimburwa told the police at one time Souter told her “to go
and claim the
money from Mugabe."
On another occasion, the
accused is alleged to have said: “You black people
of Mugabe, I do not want
to see you here asking for pay. Just work and when
you want your pay, go and
get it from Mugabe. I will never pay you.
“Go and report me to
your Mugabe. What do you think he is going to do to me?
..."
However, the state case fell apart due to lack of
evidence.
Souter, through her attorney, managed to convince the court
that Satimburwa
had fabricated evidence as an aggrieved employee to get back
at her.
It’s not yet clear if the police will one day proceed by
way of summons but
for now, Souter is a free person.
http://www.bernama.com.my/
HARARE, April 13 (Bernama)
-- The International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) has extended its
commitment for another year to assist the Zimbabwean
government clear
landmines left some 40 years after the country's liberation
war.
Tendayi Sengwe, head of communication for ICRC regional office
for southern
Africa, said there were between 1.5 million and 3 million
landmines covering
about 225 square km of land in Zimbabwe, Xinhua news
agency reported.
The landmines, mostly located along the eastern border
with Mozambique, have
prevented the land from being used for agriculture or
tourism purposes.
The landmines were planted by Rhodesian forces during
the liberation war in
the 1970s to prevent liberation fighters based in
Mozambique from crossing
the borders.
In the last few years, Zimbabwe
has requested under the Mine Ban Treaty for
extension of its deadline to
remove all landmines -- first from 2008 to
2010, 2010 to 2013 and now 2013
to 2015.
Sengwe said Zimbabwe would require "huge support" to enable it
to meet its
target of being landmine-free by 2015.
Last year, the
ICRC provided training for 54 military personnel and metal
detectors,
protective equipment and trauma kits to Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe Mine
Action Centre estimates landmines have killed more than
1,500 people and
injured 2,000 in the country since the liberation war.
http://au.eurosport.com/
Posted on 13/04/2013 at 22:08,
updated on 14/04/2013 at 00:54
Middle-order batsman Craig Ervine has
opted to play club cricket in England
rather than tests for Zimbabwe and
will miss this month's series against
Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe Cricket
spokesman Lovemore Banda told Reuters on Saturday that
Ervine, the team's
leading run-scorer on their recent tour of West Indies,
had turned down a
short-term international contract in order to play league
fixtures.
"It's disappointing not to be a part of this coming
series," the batsman
said on his Twitter account. "In life tough choices
have to be made and this
is one of them."
It is likely the
27-year-old Ervine will earn more money playing club
cricket in
England.
Ervine, who has scored 174 runs at an average of 29.00 in four
tests, does
not have a central contract with Zimbabwe Cricket.
Older
brother Sean, who signed a three-year contract extension with English
county
Hampshire this month, missed the two-test series against West Indies
after
turning down a place on the tour.
Zimbabwe will also be without injured
trio Tino Mawoyo, Regis Chakabva and
Chris Mpofu for the two home tests
against Bangladesh.
Pakistani-born batsman Sikandar Raza Butt is in line
to make his debut in
the first test in Harare that starts on Wednesday while
former captain Elton
Chigumbura is set to return after being
dropped.
Squad: Brendan Taylor (captain), Sikandar Raza Butt, Tendai
Chatara, Elton
Chigumbura, Michael Chinouya, Graeme Cremer, Kyle Jarvis,
Timycen Maruma,
Hamilton Masakadza, Shingirai Masakadza, Keegan Meth, Natsai
Mshangwe,
Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Richmond Mutumbani, Ray Price, Vusi Sibanda,
Prosper
Utseya, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams.
http://nehandaradio.com/
on April 13, 2013 at 5:46
pm
By Samuel Takawira
BEITBRIDGE – Multitudes and
multitudes of travelers wander up and down the
Beitbridge border post bus
terminus.
At one end is a group of young men enjoying the fatal,
alcoholic and illegal
‘zed’ drink. On the other end, are bounteous
cross-border ladies battling
against time to declare their wares to the
revenue officials.
At the centre of the terminus are touts clamouring for
travelers. Some are
snatching bags from the travelers, confusing them to end
up being on buses
that are not even going to their
destinations.
Every time a bus roars into the terminus, a mob of excited
vendors outpace
each other racing to the bus to trade their stuff. Much to
the surprise of
this reporter, some of the vendors are children as young as
nine. They
tussle for the best spot as they race against time to finish
their wares
before dusk.
The scorching heat, familiar with Beitbridge
is not an excuse for these
children as they continue to ramble around
selling bottled water, airtime,
magwinya (fat cooks), freezits, biscuits and
plain buns.
To these kids, vending at the border post is often a last
resort option
after failing to illegally migrate into South Africa. They
move from house
to house in the border town in search of piece jobs to
survive for another
day.
They finally get vending jobs which pay a
paltry R100 per week which
translates to R400 a month. Susan Thembo 11 who
is originally from Chipinge
said that the R400 she is receiving as payment
is nothing considering that
she has to buy food as well as sending some of
it back home to parents.
“We only go home after exhausting our stuff and
this means we have to spend
more than 12 hours selling,” Thembo
said.
She added that they are often abused and robbed of their money by
big ‘guma
gumas.’
“We cannot dare report them to the police because
it may invite more
troubles for us. We will not sell at the terminus again,”
she added.
“At least I am surviving. I am too old to go back and continue
with grade
four studies,” said Tafara Mhere.
Mqondisi Dabile, a 15
year old boy narrated his ordeal to this reporter
saying that he ended up
vending at the Beitbridge border post because he had
failed to cross into
South Africa to join his siblings who were working
there.
Silus
Ndhlovu from Beitbridge explained how these children end up being
engaged as
vendors at the border post.
“We have a high rate of child vending at the
border because most of them run
away from home with the intention of
crossing into South Africa. Having
failed to accomplish their mission, they
are forced to turn to vending to
make ends meet,” said
Ndhlovu.
Catherine Shumba (not her real name) expressed her agony over
the business
of selling at the border.
“Ini zvekutengesa izvi
handizvidi, asi amai ndivo vanoti enda unotengesa,
dzimwe nguva vanhu
vanondituka vachiti munotengesa mvura isina utsanana.
Dzimwe nguva handiende
kuchikoro nokuti ndinenge ndiri pano ndichitengesa,”
she emotionally
narrated.
(I don’t like this vending business but I am forced by my
mother who even
insults me when I sell water without maintaining hygiene.
Sometimes I
abscond lessons at school to sell at the bus terminus)
A
source who spoke on conditions of anonymity said that her business is
flourishing because of high returns she acquires from using cheap labour
from these desperate children.
“I prefer to utilize this cheap labour
so as to make considerable profits,
the children are easily available and
they even beg to trade my staff on
commission said the source adding that
the youthful vendors are obedient as
long as you furnish them with their
weekly earnings.
A city father who felt comfortable with identifying
himself as Regis
revealed that the tales of these minors are tear dropping
as they are at
times intimidated and harassed by local council
authorities.
“We understand that trading without a license is contrary to
the rules and
regulations of the council but the way some of the council
officers treat
these minors is highly unethical.
“At times when they
are caught off guard with these security officers they
are forced to bribe
them which means it will be a deficient to their
employers who will not
tolerate this and deduct this amount from the poultry
salary,” said
Regis.
In an interview with this reporter, Beitbridge Town Secretary, Dr
Theo Singo
blamed the economic hardships facing the country which he said is
driving
these children into vending.
“We have children as young as 10
coming from all over the country to find
their way into South Africa; they
are all driven by poverty that is hitting
most of the country’s rural areas.
They are also driven by the perception
that life in South Africa is rosy,”
said Dr Singo.
African Youth Charter which Zimbabwe is a signatory to
prohibits the
economic exploitation of children. The charter also forbids
children from
performing work that is likely to be hazardous to or interfere
with their
education, or to harmful to their health or holistic
development.
On the other hand the International Labour Organization
(ILO) regards this
as dangerous and unsuitable to children. In their books
this is daylight
child abuse; it also sees child labour as work that
children should not
undertake because it is dangerous and unsuitable to
them.
In 2010, South Africa had an estimated 3 million Zimbabweans the
majority of
whom were illegal migrants. The number has dwindled due to the
unity
government’s economic revival drive that has resulted in stabilization
of
the economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/
By LYDIA
POLGREEN
Published: April 12, 2013
HARARE, Zimbabwe — The guests
arrived in Bentleys, Benzes and BMWs. At a
plush, riverside wedding in an
upscale suburb, the wine and spirits flowed
and tables groaned with the
ample buffet. Politicians, celebrities,
diplomats and business leaders
mingled to the strains of Oliver Mtukudzi, a
Zimbabwean music star,
serenading the happy couple with his famous love song
“Svovi
Yangu.”
This was not the wedding of some stalwart of the dominant party
that has
ruled this mineral-rich nation for decades. Instead, the
60-year-old groom
was a one-time labor organizer, Morgan Tsvangirai, the
longstanding
opposition leader and now prime minister in a once uneasy but
increasingly
comfortable unity government with President Robert
Mugabe.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Misheck Shoko, a member of
Parliament for
Mr. Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
“It must have
cost a fortune. We cannot help but wonder: who paid the
bill?”
As Zimbabwe prepares to choose a new president this year in
long-awaited
elections, voters are increasingly questioning the erstwhile
opposition, the
only serious challenger to the tight grip Mr. Mugabe and his
party, ZANU-PF,
have held on this nation for decades.
Mr.
Tsvangirai’s underdog movement has long been the vessel of millions of
Zimbabweans’ hopes for a more democratic, peaceful and prosperous future in
what was once one of Africa’s most stable and wealthy nations. But four
years of governing alongside Mr. Mugabe — and in some ways, analysts say,
being co-opted by him and his allies — has taken a toll on its
reputation.
The disenchantment was evident in a survey last year
conducted for Freedom
House, a watchdog group based in the United States,
that found support for
Mr. Tsvangirai’s party had fallen to 20 percent from
38 percent two years
earlier among voters who declared a preference. By
contrast, support for
ZANU-PF — the party that clung to power by beating,
torturing and
intimidating thousands in the last election in 2008 — grew to
31 percent
last year from 17 percent in 2010, the survey found, though some
analysts
noted that an unusually high number of people declined to respond,
probably
out of fear.
Mr. Tsvangirai rocketed to fame as the
courageous leader of a party that
dared to challenge the rule of Mr. Mugabe,
who has led this country since
independence in 1980. Photographs of him
beaten and bleeding from the head
in 2007 galvanized global opinion against
Mr. Mugabe’s brutal reign.
But these days, Mr. Tsvangirai’s lifestyle has
been the talk of a nation
where millions live on $2 a day. He has taken to
traveling abroad with a
sizable entourage, officials and analysts say,
honeymooning in London and
spending holidays in Monaco. He recently moved
into a government residence
that cost about $3 million to build.
His
party entered the power-sharing government in 2009, after disastrous
elections in which Mr. Tsvangirai won the most votes but withdrew from a
runoff because of the violence meted out against his followers. Hundreds of
people were killed in the crackdown. In a deal hammered out with Zimbabwe’s
neighbors, Mr. Tsvangiriai became prime minister, and the two parties agreed
to share power.
In practice, Mr. Tsvangirai’s party has had almost no
authority to change
the fundamental structure of Zimbabwe. The army and
police forces remained
under Mr. Mugabe’s control. Mr. Tsvangirai’s party
held ministries
controlling the economy and social services, both of which
have improved,
but it has struggled to transform the architecture of Mr.
Mugabe’s security
state.
Meanwhile, officials in Mr. Tsvangirai’s
party, many of whom suffered
poverty while fighting to remake Zimbabwe,
began enjoying the trappings of
power. Government ministers, members of
Parliament and other officials were
awarded fancy cars and travel
allowances. Mr. Tsvangirai traded his
trade-unionist leather jacket for
tailored suits.
His personal life has been a source of embarrassment as
well. His wife Susan
died in a car accident in 2009, and his romantic life
since has been the
subject of extensive news coverage, much to his party’s
chagrin. When he was
planning to marry Elizabeth Macheka, his current wife,
another woman
challenged, claiming that she had been married to Mr.
Tsvangirai in a
traditional ceremony in 2011.
The matter ended up in
court, with a magistrate ruling that Mr. Tsvangirai
was in fact already
married under customary law. He was forced to cancel
plans for a legal
wedding, and instead called the ceremony last September a
celebration.
Another woman also filed court papers, claiming that she
and Mr. Tsvangirai
had been engaged. Mr. Tsvangirai did not respond to
repeated interview
requests, but he apologized publicly to supporters for
his messy search for
a new wife, saying: “I had no intention to hurt anyone.
It was a genuine
search.”
Other problems have erupted. In
Chitungwiza, a stronghold of Mr. Tsvangirai’s
party, a corruption scandal
has engulfed the City Council. Elected officials
stand accused of selling
access to hundreds of pieces of city-controlled
land for about $4,000 per
plot and pocketing most of the money.
Council members from Mr.
Tsvangirai’s party, with the help of their former
adversaries, parceled off
soccer fields, playgrounds, wetlands and areas set
aside for schools and
churches. Land in Chitungwiza is not privately owned;
individuals and
businesses lease it from the government. But there is a long
waiting list,
and bribes to city councilors helped people jump the line.
For many, the
painful irony is that thousands were pushed out of Chitungwiza
by Mr.
Mugabe’s government in a 2005 demolition campaign to eviscerate
opposition
strongholds. Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed, and
today
housing is scarce and expensive. City employees are supposed to
receive land
for houses, but many are waiting — and officials from Mr.
Tsvangirai’s party
are now accused of profiting from the misfortune.
Never Tarugarira, a
janitor and handyman at a community center, has been on
a waiting list since
2005, but his number has never come up. So he rents two
tiny, fetid rooms
for $100 a month, eating up much of his paycheck — that
is, when he gets
one. He has not been paid for the past five months because
of the city’s
fiscal woes.
“Some nights we go to sleep without eating,” he
said.
Alice Chihambakwe, another Chitungwiza resident waiting years for a
plot,
says her husband goes to work every day at the city’s sewer plant, but
has
not been paid in months. Two of her children had to postpone crucial
high
school exams because the family could not pay the fees, about $30 per
child.
“Our lives are on hold,” Ms. Chihambakwe said, weeping
softly.
The councilors proved easy marks for corrupt bureaucrats from Mr.
Mugabe’s
party, said Amos Matanhike, a former town clerk in
Chitungwiza.
“The problem is that most of the M.D.C. councilors are very
young,” Mr.
Matanhike said. “They did not have houses, they owned no
property. So these
youngsters took that opportunity, and they got onto the
gravy train.”
Once it got wind of the scandal, Mr. Tsvangirai’s party
tried to take
action, firing the councilors involved. But the minister for
local
government, a ZANU-PF appointee, vetoed the dismissals, so the
councilors
remain.
Critics say the former opposition party has been
naïve, falling into a trap
set by Mr. Mugabe to co-opt and compromise
them.
“Old Bob must be chuckling and enjoying himself right now,” said
Munyaradzi
Gwisai, a prominent activist. “He has them right where he wants
them.”
Nelson Chamisa, a top official with the Movement for Democratic
Change, says
Mr. Tsvangirai remains the best hope for change in
Zimbabwe.
“He is the next big thing in Zimbabwe,” Mr. Chamisa said. “He
is the only
game in town.”
He called Mr. Tsvangirai’s ceremony “a
basic wedding” and that he deserved
sympathy after the tragic death of his
previous wife.
“At times people are very harsh and unkind to a very noble
man,” Mr. Chamisa
said.
Asked who paid for the wedding, Mr. Chamisa
said, “There are many people who
wish him well.”
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/04/11/world/africa/20130412-ZIMBABWE.html
A
slideshow of pictures about ordiary Zimbabweans and their lives.
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
April 13, 2013, 7:45
am
Dear Family and Friends,
Zimbabwe turns 33 on 18th April
2013. Because it’s a dangerous occupation
taking photographs here, it’s
safer to use words to describe what my home
town looks like 33 years after
independence from colonial rule.
Outside the large provincial
government hospital half a dozen convicts from
the local prison have been
put to work doing the job that the ratepayers of
the town pay the
municipality to do, but which they don’t do. The convicts
are wearing white
shirts and shorts and are guarded by three, armed prison
officials who lean
against the grey durawall around the hospital and whose
appearance, if it
could talk, would scream: “bored !” The convicts are
clearing grass and
scraping litter into piles. Inside the large provincial
government hospital
outpatients haven’t been able to get the most basic
drugs for their ailments
for the last three months, sent away to commercial
pharmacies to buy them,
bring them back and then they’ll be treated.
In residential suburbs
around the town, it’s inky-black at night, street
lights haven’t worked for
at least eight years. There’s a nasty, angry buzz
of flies hovering around
dustbins which haven’t been collected for three
weeks. The dustbin truck did
come two weeks ago but roared around the
neighbourhood so fast at a few
minutes before 6pm that most people didn’t
manage to get their bins out onto
the road in time. Strom drains haven’t
been cleared for countless years, tar
roads have sharp, steep drop offs at
their eroded edges; dirt roads have
become narrow tracks with deep gullies
and rocky outcrops making many of
them completely impassable. Everywhere you
see people carrying buckets of
water or piles of branches for firewood on
their heads.
In the
central business district every pavement is crowded with vendors. You
can
buy anything from bananas and belts to mobile phones and artificial hair
pieces, there’s no need to actually go into a shop. Countless shops have
been turned into flea markets; dark, crowded rooms with invisible partitions
that separate young women all selling cheap Chinese shoes, clothes and
underwear, their goods piled up to, and hanging down from, the ceiling. In
parking bays around the town pick-up trucks with their tailgates down are
loaded with sacks of potatoes, onions and butternuts, piled high with
cabbages, mountains of carrots or bundles of leaf vegetables. These mobile
shops are ready to race off at a moment’s notice should any official
actually decide that they are causing a traffic hazard, blocking the road
and trading illegally. Outside supermarkets young well dressed teenagers
with plugs in their ears spend their school holidays selling car wax,
windscreen wipers, phone chargers.
On the main highway that runs
through the town, crowds of people wait for
lifts, standing on both sides
of a sign that says “Stopping prohibited, no
hitch hiking.” Amongst the
crowds there are always police in uniform, hitch
hiking like everyone else.
Doing the rounds about town in recent weeks has
been a sheet of paper with a
‘wish list’ from the police looking for
assistance from residents. On the
list is everything from fuel and tyres for
their vehicles to paper, pens,
paper clips and drawing pins.
This is the picture of our country which
has become one giant, made-in-
China, flea market where ordinary people
desperately try and sell anything
to make a few dollars. Meanwhile, swishing
past the town on the highway
leading to diamond fields and the border, fancy
state-of-the-art vehicles
with tinted windows carry impeccably dressed and
accessorised occupants. How
did they make so much money in a country where 8
out 10 people can’t get
formal work? Was it from the farms they took, or the
mines, or the 51%
indigenization, or the government or the gold and
diamonds? Happy Birthday
33 year old Zimbabwe and, as the activists say:
“A-loot-a continua!” Until
next time, love cathy
